Basketball: Zhang out with collapsed lung

Cal sophomore center Max Zhang, coming off one of the best games of his career, won’t be in uniform Thursday night when the Bears take on Arizona at Haas Pavilion.

Zhang suffered a collapsed lung during practice Monday when he collided with a teammate. He saw a doctor today and will be re-evaluated in the coming days. He is out for Thursday; his status for Saturday’s game against Arizona State is uncertain, a spokesperson for the athletic department reported within the past half-hour.

The 7-foot-2 1/4 native of China helped spark Cal’s 64-49 win at Oregon, coming off the bench to score eight points in just five minutes during the second half. It was his first significant playing time in almost three weeks.

Zhang played 11 minutes in Cal’s 76-72 loss at Arizona last month, contributing three points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

Coach Mike Montgomery, at his Tuesday press conference earlier in the day, said nothing about Zhang’s condition, even though he fielded questions on the health of other players. He said the absence of ailing players from practice at times during the season has hurt the team’s depth and conditioning, but indicated he expects forward Omondi Amoke (shoulder) to play against ASU.

Zhang’s condition is the latest in series of physical setbacks the Bears have faced:

— Senior forward Theo Robertson missed six games early in the season with a foot injury.

— Sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez sat out five games with a sprained knee

— Junior center Markhuri Sanders-Frison missed one game due to the flu and three others with back spasms,

— Senior guard Patrick Christopher was held out of practice much of last week, according to Montgomery, because of tendinitis in his knee.